2014 in Photos: Begin Again

The start of Advent was amazing. Slow and intentional and all things lovely. The middle started to speed up a bit and the end knocked me on my butt.

The boys caught a virus that was over quick for Linus but lingered for Bigfoot which forced us to postpone travels. The day we finally decided to travel my knee buckled (read: knee cap dislocated) because of an old injury (Seriously, old high school injuries are really not my favorite this year. at. all.), but we still got on the road and made the best of the holidays with family.

Emotionally and physically the later part of Advent rocked me, but slowly and surely mixed with with lots of grace we are moving forward to the new year.

At the end of it all, I'm so excited for 2015, and also thankful for all the goodness and hardships that 2014 brought. I hope to reflect more on this bit in the new year, but for now, I'm joining Dwija for 12 in 2014, Obviously, just 12 is not something I'm good at, so there may be a couple more than 12. Bad rule follower here!

Enjoy and come back for my top posts of 2014! Will be putting it up tomorrow! :)

January

I didn't take this photo in January 2014, but I did share it in this post celebrating our anniversary and I kind of heart it a lot.

February

 Linus had a birthday. This is my favorite.

And, this one below was taken the same day.

This may be one of my most favorite photos taken of Bigfoot thus far. 

March

 Settling into our Home Sweet Home so perfectly. Our new home has been such a gift! Such an amazing gift!

April

 Easter Love.

and, my husband surprised me with this ridiculous photo at the end of one of the most perfect birthdays. He had me take funny pics of my day, and then at some point edited the notes I was holding. To say I was surprised could never fully share the range of emotions I experienced upon seeing this photo after an already amazing birthday.

 May

 Park days.

Lots of park days and sunshine.

June

My Junebug turned three! He loves all things orange, his family, and donuts. Hence, the donut cake that was a major win in my books.

July

Okay. I'm obviously having trouble picking just one photo per month. Bear with me! I just kind of love the beach and am getting all. the. feels. looking back!

August

 I just love this photo of Linus napping. Love it!

 Ready to go mingle and enjoy all the lovely women who attended the Edel Gathering 2014.

 Back home with my littles.

This photo is important to me because it was just before my disc in my lower back herniated. Simple chores like the one above were impossible to minimal the months that followed.

September

One word: recovery. Slowly but surely, I was recovering from my herniated disc.

 And, was grateful for all the time with family that were able to visit during the month and some of recovery. It brought me a sort of distraction (which I needed) and time to rest.

October

 October was a good month.

 Filled with family, friends, laughter, and joy.

 I will forever love the photo above. Haha, the butterfly that confused my husband's bottom for a flower. Of all the places to repeatedly land!

All Hallow's Eve. St. Pascual and the Kitchen Angels and St. George's Dragon.

November

 Pumpkin farm for the win.

 These boys. Love their love!

First go at pumpkin carving. Final verdict: meh.

December

 Christmas tree farm.

 So many firsts this year including this Ferris Wheel.

 Advent.

 The most beautiful tree we've ever had.

So much family time. Loved all of it.

BONUS

Traditions.

 Papa, reading, and cheetahs.

 Our little family.

 Fun.

 Patiently waiting.

 Hugs.

 Moments.

 Second cousins.  

 First driving lesson.

 Sunshine and comfort.

Citrus.

Moments.

Us.

Now,

Let us begin again.

-St. Francis of Assisi

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Thanks for stopping by and having a little glance at our year. I know I thoroughly enjoyed taking that sweet trip down memory lane. Hope you did too!

Happy New Year!

Thanks, Dwija! Head over to House Unseen. Life Unscripted. for more 12 in 2014.

finding beauty // mr. happy mcsmiley and mr. grouchy mcogre

We had a snow dusting this past Monday. I am not prepared  for this. Not at all. As sweet and pretty the cold white dust is, it's just a little message about the winter that is to come.

Theme Thursday: Prepare

See, I'm in Texas. Like I said, I grew up in South Texas where there are two seasons: hot and hotter. Since living in North Texas I have experienced snow every year as well as ice storms (I did not know these even existed before moving here!). Winter has become more real to me since moving to Dallas even though I spent two good years in Washington, DC for graduate school. There was something about knowing that my time there was temporary. But, here and now in Texas, this is our home and it gets cold!

I will say one thing, these Texas Autumn sunshine-y skies are gorgeous. I am always amazed by them. The trees, the vastness, the sunshine, all of it is so pretty.

Beauty Find Friday: Autumn Sunshine

Now that I've shared about my winter fears, moving onto what we did on our snow-dust day. We finally got around to carving the little pumpkins we brought home from our visit to the pumpkin farm!

Even though these recent days have been tough, there was so much grace on Monday. So much grace.

We had a good day. And, as a friend recently said, Everything is grace. You're so right, Jenny. Everything truly is grace and by that alone has there been peace and rhythm to our days this week.

My little monkeys were funny about cleaning out the pumpkins. They both requested spoons to avoid sticking their hands in.

I obliged.

And this one was pretty happy about it.

We had a good time, a good day, and both boys were pretty happy about this new experience even though we couldn't go outside and haven't been able to till today! Thankfully the weather has been amazing today! Thank you, Texas!

I gave pumpkin seeds a try but they were a major fail. As yummy as they smelled they did not come out crispy, crunchy, and seasoned. Instead they were still slightly moist, even after an hour and I feel like the seasoning didn't take.

Ah, well! Do any of you have a tried and true recipe for yummy roasted pumpkin seeds? I'm all ears! I love snacking on them when they're good!

Finally, after all the to-do's were almost done, I asked the boys what kind of face they wanted on their pumpkins. We don't have carving tools so I made do with an apple corer and a knife.

These pumpkins are hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing after they requested their faces. Immediately Bigfoot, my Mr. Happy McSmiley asked for a Happy face! Onto the little man in the house and he shook his head at happy face. I continued to ask my little ogre what face he wanted and the next thing you know, he shared his own little grouchy face. His older brother then yelled He wants a grouchy face! Grouchy face it was for my little Mr. Grouchy McOgre-man

Prayer request for all in the North dealing with that crazy snow weather. It really is so scary and many are stuck in their homes. How has the weather been in your area?

Linking-up with the amazing women over at Like Mother, Like Daughter, Theme Thursday over at fun Clan-Donaldson, and Finding Beauty with the incredibly talented Aimee.